Subject line says all...

my experience with various brands of shocks/struts:

1) Sachs/Boge.  Installed a full set of "Turbo Gas" struts on my '84 GTI
along with some H&R Sport springs.  Initial impression was good but
within a year the front end of the car was bouncing up and down wildly
over bumps, post-mortem revealed zero damping left whatsoever.  Swore
off Sachs/Boge because this was exactly what I'd been told to expect by
VW enthusiasts, but the price was right and I was in a real bind, as I
had very little $$$ and needed new struts to pass inspection.  Replaced
with a set of used Koni yellows.

2) Koni yellow.  These replaced the "Turbo Gas" on the GTI and they
actually ended up getting swapped onto the Scirocco that replaced it.
No complaints other than I had to run them at full soft to keep my
kidneys intact, and the price  (I bought these used from another VW fan,
but they were still pricier than the Turbo Gas, even at half list.)
AFAIK they are still on the Scirocco which I still regret selling.

3) KYB Gas-A-Just.  Previous owner of my Porsche 944 installed them on
the rear very shortly before I purchased it from him.  After maybe 6
months the car developed a disturbing clanking from the rear.  I had
visions of trashed trailing arm bushings in my head so I took it to a
local Porsche specialty shop.  After a tongue-lashing from the shop
owner for letting KYBs anywhere near a Porsche, he installed a pair of
Bilsteins and all has been well since.  Also my old landlady had a
Nissan pickup on which her ex-husband (a gas station mechanic) installed
a full set of new KYBs.  I borrowed it one day and mentioned in passing
when I returned it that she might want to consider a set of new shocks,
when I found out about the new KYBs.  Whoopsie.  Stuck my foot in it
that time, but not sure what I should have said differently.

4) Sachs/Boge again.  Previous owner of 944 installed these on the front
of the car at the same time as the KYBs mentioned above.  Likely because
as I have since discovered they are the only mfgr. still making
replacements for this car.  I've had the car for about three years now
and the complete and total lack of damping is starting to bother me.

5) Gabriel.  Purchased a set of "Classic Gas" for my '55 Studebaker; one
of the front shocks was locked up solid when I received it.  I installed
it anyway and "freed it up" by bouncing the fender.  It promptly
displayed a complete lack of damping, and when combined with the other
three brand new shocks produced a disconcerting corkscrewing under
braking, so I promptly removed the front pair and returned them for
replacements.  The replacements are OK but I've heard reports that these
too fail quickly in regular use.  (the car is a project, so hasn't been
driven much.)  There don't appear to be any other "direct fit"
replacements for this car, although I've been able to research a couple
"might be close enough to work" applications.  At least these were only
about $15 apiece at AutoZone and is an easy, pleasant replacement (well,
as pleasant as a shock replacement can be, anyway.)

6) Koni again.  Koni has introduced a cartridge adaptable to the sealed
struts that Porsche used on the 87-88 944.  Since I don't have a whole
lot of free time to work on cars, I paid Paragon to install the
cartridges in an old pair of worn out struts I'd bought off eBay.  Just
received them today, and unfortunately one of them feels good and one is
locked up solid just like the one Gabriel I mentioned above.  Yes, I did
adjust them to full soft per the instructions (turn knob to stop and
then one half turn back) before attempting to test.  I'm not
particularly inclined to install them on the car and see if they work
themselves out, partially because that did not happen on the Stude and
partially because a strut replacement on a Porsche is about 5x as much
work as replacing a front shock on a Studebaker.

Unfortunately it looks like my only choices for the Porsche are to stick
with either Koni or Sachs/Boge, as Bilstein no longer makes a front
strut for the 87-88 944.  So I guess I will have to contact Paragon in
the morning and try to get some replacements, since there's no way in
hell I'm going to buy the Sachs/Boge struts.  (hey, I'm 0 for 2 on
Sachs/Boge in terms of satisfaction, while my track record for Koni is
currently 1 for 2, which is the best of any manufacturer I've tried save
for Bilstein.)

Has anyone had a 100% GOOD experience with any strut/shock manufacturer?
 I'm getting quite disgusted with repeatedly messing with what ought to
be a simple, long-lasting piece of automotive equipment.  My mood is not
helped any by the fact that the nice shiny yellow paint on my strut
housings was trashed by the time it got to my door - looks like whoever
cleaned/painted the housings laid the paint on too thick and then packed
them up before the paint was completely dry, so it's now a pushed-around
mess.  I'm wondering if anyone local does powdercoat... would be worth
it to have them do the housings in powder, and if they offer quick
turnaround I might have them do my springs and upper spring perches as well.

nate